Rock-abrading machine



March 3, 1931. w. R. DEGENHARDT ET AL 1,795,109

ROCK ABRADING MACHINE 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. '7, 1929 WM G/UW 6M4 a Mk,

March 3, 1931.

\ w. R. DEGENHARDT ETAL 1,795,109

ROCK ABRADING MACHINE Filed Jan. 7, 1929 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 MM W March 3, 1931.

W. R. DEGENHARDT ETAL ROCK ABRADING MACHINE 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 7, 1929 1.2 ha ha: n hhduw P u n H u ld l u March 3, 1931. w. R. DE'GENHARDT ET AL 1,795,109

ROCK ABRADING MACHINE Filed Jan. 7, 1929 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 QR Illl/I/IV Wl/ WFWMV A March 3, 1931. w. R. DEGENHARDT ETAL 1,795,109

ROCK ABRADING MACHINE Filed Jan. 7, 1929 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 March 3, 1931. w. R. DEGENI-VIARDT ET AL 1,795,109

ROCK ABRADING MACHINE Filed Jan. 7, 1929 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Mm 3, 1931. w. R. DEGENHARDT ETAL 1,795,109

ROCK ABRADING MACHINE 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed Jan. '7, 1929 u H II I ITU/eniors,

Mew VFW, m zw 0 W bwlwm Patented Mar. 3, 1931 UNITEDSTATES manna PATENT QFFICE \VILLIAM RUSSELL DEGENHARDT, OF LONDON, AND ALLAN FRED DE FRAINE, O 'WTIMBLEY', ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS TO THE FRANCOIS CEMENTATION COI'IIYAL'IY, LIMITED, OF 'DONCASTEE, ENGLAND, A BBIITISH COMPANY ROCIQABRADIHG MACHINE Application fil ed January 7, 1929, Serial No. 330,900, and in Great Britain January 23, 1928.

3 This invention relates to rock abrading machines such as are used for tunnelling, shaft boring, channeling, coal cutting, facing granite sets and similar purposes.

According to the invention the machine comprises a rotary member (herein termed the tool head) provided with a number of Lab loosely pivoted abrading' or. chipping tools which, during the rotation of the tool head,

moveoutwards into their operative positions under the influence of centrifugal force. The said tool head is preferably rotatable about ,an axis parallel or substantially parallel to the surface of the material to be abraded and the pivots of the tools are preferably arranged with their axes parallel or substantially parallel tot-he axis of rotation of the tool head; I As the said tools are free to move inwards from their operative positions the impeded on encountering undue obstructions.

As a"result of this arrangement the tools, which project beyond the periphery of the tool head, impart a number of rapid blows to the material to be abraded so as to chip away the surface. The tools are preferably of ring shape and are formed with slots or with large concentric or'elongated holes 10ose ly engaging with pivot pins on which the tools rock. In the normal position of the tools with the tool head rapidly rotating the inner end of each slot 01' hole bears against the inner surface of each pivot pin and in this position each tool may have its centre of gravity somewhat to the outside of the axis of the pivot pin. When thetool movesinwards as aforesaid the position of its centre of. gravity changes with respect to the axis of the pivot pin andwhen'the outer end of the slot or hole abuts against the outer surface of the pivot pin the said centre of gravity is substantially on the inside of the axis of the pivot pin. The result of a this arrangement is that the tool aftercomingin contact with the working face 7 mizes wear and reduces to a minimum the need for lubrication.

The aforesald tool head may conveniently comprise two dlscs spaced a suitable distance apart with the tools loosely mounted as aforeeffect, the same will now be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sectional front elevation showing a tool head provided with the preferred form of tools in accordance with this invention,

Figure 2 is a front elevation showing an alternative form of tool,

Figure 3 is a plan of Figure 2,

Figure 4: is a side elevation showing one construction of a machine embodying sc cral tool heads for operatin upon the face of a tunnel or shaft,

Figure 5 is a plan of Figure 4-,

Figure 6 is a front view showing diagram.- inaticall'y the disposition of the tool heads in the machine according to Figures 4i. and 5,

Figures 7 and 8 are respectively a sec tional side elevation and a plan of a construc tion of a machine embodying a single tool head for o aeratin u ion the face of a tunnel elevation anda side elevation showing a ma- 1 chine embodying atool head for facing granite sets. l

A, Zia-re the tools which, in the examples shown, are-in the form oirings provided with a convenient 'nun'ibor oi peripheral'teeth and with la concentric holes A through which pass pivot pins B carried by a tool head C so that the outer surfaces of the tools project- 7 beyond the periphery of the said tool head;

.-Ji11 B. c When the abradin surface oi one oib these oivot nine ma 7 carr Y in a ireel rotatr-a'ble mannersleeves or bushes B (Figure 1) preferably of vanadium steel. The diameter of the/sleeve B (or the pivot-pin B it the --sleeve is not provided) is substantially less than that off the hole A (it may for example beabout half asshown) so that each tool A; has considerable :l'reedmn of movement upon the sleeve B. D ring rapid rotation of the tool head C the tools are flung outwardly b y centrifugal force into the positionsshown in the various figures of the drawings (see par- :ticularly Figure l in which the inner wall of each hole A bears against the inner part each sleeve B and in this .positionthe centre of gravity of eachtool is'situatedsome- What to the outside 01 the axis of its pivot the tools meets the working face of the mate-v rial to be abraded. the said abradiii surface first, enters the material and the tool then moves inwardly towards the axis .of'rotation ofth'etoel head C so as'to ring the abrading surface cl the li e of thotool is increased as its gtho hole i 1 abuts against the outer surface oTfthe'sleevo B the said centre of gravity is 7 substantially on the inside of the axis of the pivot pin. Instead of tie concentric holes A radi slots or elongated holes of suitable -\,vidth and length may llQ Pl'OVlClQd, but the said concentric holes are preferable. The

tools A may have peripheral cutting edges integral with the lines after the'manner of a milling cutter, as shown in Figure l, or

' they may have separate and detachable cut ting members A lwhich may be radially dieposed as s iown in Flgures 2 and 3; the latter form of tool is shown as being used in Figures 13 and l l and the otherforn'i of'tool is shown as being used in Figures 4 to 12. Also for abrading hard material such'as granite the tools may have plain peripheries with the peripheral portions preferably wedge-- shaped or rounded.

of the material with the result lhe tool head C may be composed of discs spaced a suitable distance apart laterally with the tools A between them and the pivot pins B connected to them near their peripheries (SQGFlgl-lI'GSl-iO 8 and lland 14,), orit may be composed of single disc. with the pivot pins B pro ecting laterally therefrom as shoivnin Flgures 9 toll. In either the said tool. head is-carried by a spindle C the of Which-is parallel or substantially pa1' allel-to the axes of the-pivot pins B. There maybe one tool arranged on each pivot pin or there may be two or more with gaps between them.v When the. tools are arranged in pairs each pair maybe staggered in relation to the next pair so th-a-t although the tools move in ditlerent paths the material is abraded over a width corresponding substantially to the distance between their outer faces. I

In the tormofmachine sh-ownby Figures 4 tov 6 which is intended for tunnelling pu-r j poses, there are three tool heads G rotatably carried by brackets D 011 a rotatable frame D at dillerentdistances trom'the axis ofthe tunnel so that when the said frame is rotated the tools A-cover the Whole face of the. tunnel and produce grooves therein-asshown in Figures 4 and 5. In the construction shown the tools of the tool heads that are at the greatest and the second greatest distance trom the axis ofthe tunnel are arranged in pairs upon eacl'rpivotpin Whilst the tools of the tool headxthat is nearest the axis of the tunnel are arranged singly von the pivot pi-nses theydo not have too-cover so. much areaastheothers. The said frame Dis connected-to alargehollow boss D (the purpose of which Will be described later) and this in turn is connected to a hollow shaft D rotatably mounted in brackets D carried by a platform D4 Which'is movable on rails on the floor of the tunnel so that the machine can be movedforward in any suitable manner as the Work. progresses. The said shaft carries a toothed wheel D meshing with a pinion D on a shaft D also carried by the platform D4.

carry the tools A overthe face ofithe tunnel as aforesaid. The tool heads 0 are rotated in any suitable manner during the rotation of the frame D.-' In the example shown the spind-leC of each tool :head G carries a pulley C connected lay-ropes to a pulley C the shaft i or which carries a toothed Wheel G. This toothed Wheel meshes with an idler C which in turn meshes with another toothed wheel 0 the shaft of which carries a bevel Wheel :C The toothed Wheels (35 G and C are This shaft 'D carries a'wormwheel contained in a casing D 'and the shaft wheel C (also arranged within the hollow 'boss) on the front end of a shaft C arranged within the aforesaid hollow shaft D3. The

rear end of the shaft C where it projects beyond the shaft D is connected to the shaft er an electric motor C carried by the platform D. The rotation of the motor C thus 7 effects the simultaneous rotation of all the tool heads C.- WV'e would here mention that to avoidconfusionin the drawings we have vshown the tool heads C in Figure 4 in different relativepositions from those of Figure 6 which showsthe preferred disposition of the tool heads; and also that in Figure only one tool head-has been shown and this again in a positiondifierent from that of Figure 6. The frame D may be provided with a bar D carrying at its end ascoop D 'forthe purpose of clearing any partly loosedbris fromthe upper Wall of the tunnel and bringing it to the-bottom of the tunnel ;whereit can ,be' transferredto the rear in any suitable manner suchas'by a reciproeating conveyorD of the pivoted push-plate type carried beneath the aforesaid platform D 1 i Intheeonstruction according to Figures 7 and 8 the brackets Dsupporting the spindle Cfof the single'tool headC form part of a frame D whichcontains an electric motor E for driving the tool head through pulleys C C and ropes against which bears a' jockey pulleyC". The said frameis carried by a shaft Fpassing through an armF (termed the tool arm). which isoperated in such a manner as to cause the'tool A to describe a spiral path that all par jtsof the face of the tunnel are successively acted upon within the range of movement of the tools. The said tool arm is universally pivotedat a point between its ends (forexampleas described in the specification of British Patent No. 297.137) and the means for operatingit may be similar to that described in the said specification, that is to say the rear end of the shaft F carriedby the tool arm engages in a hole in a ball shaped member F loosely held in a socket F formed in a block F This block is mounted to slide in radial guides -F in a rotary member F and is formed with a slot receiving a small block F carried by a crank pin F which projects from a disc F. The said rotary member F has a hollow shaft F and the disc F has a shaft F rotatably mounted in the said hollow shaft and means, such as are described in the said earlier specification, are provided for rotating the said shafts at different speeds so as to cause the sliding block F to be given a radial movement and thus cause the ball shaped member F (and therefore the tool A) of the tunnel or shaft.

verse holein a trunnion G to describe the required spiral jiath of-movoment. 'As it desirable for the proper operation of the machine forming the'subject of the present invention that the axis of rotation ofthe tool head shall alwayslie in a radial. di- IBCfiOlTWith respect to the aXis of the tunnel "or shaft; we connect the shaft F in such a manner that it rotates in harmony with the rotary member F 'lForthis purpose the ballshapedmember F is formed with pheriphcral groovesl 7- at right angles to each other and the forks f of a fork-shaped member rigidly carried by the rear end of the shaft Frengage inthe groove l whilst keys on a member f connected'to the block F engage in the groove f Consequently as'the said member f rotates androcks the tool arm F the aforesaid frame D carrying the tool head C is come spondingly rotated with the result that the plane of the tool head always lies tangentially with respect toa circle struck from the axis The weight of the tool head C and the electric motor E driving it may be balanced by a weight F on the rear part ofthe tool arm. It is preferred that when the rotationof the tool head C is clockwise the tool arm is rotated in an anti-clockwise direction and vice versa. The tool arm is carried bya platform which canbe moved forward-in any suitable manner as the work progresses for example as described in the specification of the aforesaid patent. As the frame D carrying the electric motor E rotates with respect to the tool arm I it necessary to provide the former with collecting rings@ which are electrically connected to the terminals of the motor and against which brushes 7 hear; these brushes are carriedby a casing 7 connected to the tool arm F and are electrically connected to the leads of a supply cable f In the construction according to Figures 9, 10 and 11, which shows a machine for forming a channel in the face of a tunne'hthere are two tool heads G. C rotatably mounted at the ends of a frame D which has a rearward cylindrical extension G slidably disposed in a trans- This trunnion is rotatably mounted in brackets G on a carrier G which has rollers bearin against arcuate guide rails G, Gr carried by supporting rings g, g in the tunnel. The said guide rails have rack teeth meshing with pinions G, G: mounted on a shaft '9 on the carrier G the said shaftbcing driven through a worm g and a Worm-wheel g by an electric motor G mounted on the said carrier. The cylindrical extension G of the frame D is connected to a platform H which carries an electric motor H driving a shaft H l which in turn drives the spindles C C of the. tool heads C, C through bevel gearing H (Figure 11) and internally toothed rings H meshing with pinions h on the said spindles. H

Thesaid platform is connected by a link H to no 

